Middle East

Gazing at Egypt With Shock and Awe

"First Egypt was destabilized and then the Muslim Brotherhood was virtually invited to take over. Presumably Washington had no problem with the ascent of the Muslim Brotherhood because it is amenable to Western Intel and has been for decades. But increasingly, it seems something went wrong in Egypt once the Brotherhood was installed. Not only did they not observe the (misleading) niceties of regulatory democracy; more egregiously they declined a loan from the International Monetary Fund. And so ... exit the Muslim Brotherhood and enter, once more, the Egyptian military – Washington's main ally of power in the Upper and Lower lands of the Nile." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGazing at Egypt With Shock and Awe

Egyptian security forces open fire in dawn raid on praying pro-Morsi supporters, 42 dead

"At least 42 people were killed on Monday during an attack on supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi outside an elite army base in Cairo, a senior medical official said. 'The death toll is 42 dead and 322 wounded,' Ahmed al-Ansari, the deputy head of emergency services, told AFP. The Muslim Brotherhood, which has led pro-Morsi demonstrations, said 35 of its supporters were killed when police and troops fired at them while they were praying at dawn. Witnesses, including Brotherhood supporters at the scene, said the army fired only tear gas and warning shots and that 'thugs' in civilian clothes had carried out the deadly shooting." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgyptian security forces open fire in dawn raid on praying pro-Morsi supporters, 42 dead

Ron Paul on New Egyptian War: Americans Lose, Again

"Looking at the banners in the massive Egyptian protests last week, we saw many anti-American slogans. Likewise, the Muslim Brotherhood-led government that was deposed by the military last week was very critical of what it saw as US support for the coup. Why is it that all sides in this Egyptian civil war seem so angry with the United States? Because the United States has at one point or another supported each side, which means also that at some point the US has also opposed each side. It is the constant meddling in Egyptian affairs that has turned Egyptians against us, as we would resent foreign intervention in our own affairs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul on New Egyptian War: Americans Lose, Again

Thousands of protesters call for Yemen to be broken up

"Thousands of people rallied in south Yemen on Sunday’s 19th anniversary of the civil war that was won by the north to demand secession for the south. 'No union and no federation — no to the occupation!' the crowds chanted in the Hadramawt provincial capital of Mukalla. They waved the flag of the former South Yemen and portraits of Hassan Baoum, head of the Southern Movement’s supreme council. In a statement, the protest organisers reaffirmed their rejection of a UN-backed national dialogue under way in the capital Sanaa, which aims to draft a new constitution and prepare for elections in 2014, after a two-year transition led by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThousands of protesters call for Yemen to be broken up

The Real Story of the Cyprus Debt Crisis (Part 1)

"In July 1974, in the face of an airborne invasion backed by the armour of NATO member Turkey, 200,000 Greek Cypriot citizens ran from their homes with only the clothes on their backs. The Greek Cypriot armour and infantry were no match for the second largest standing army in NATO, equal in size to the British and French forces combined. The Greek Cypriots were easily routed. The victors conducted summary executions of thousands of their prisoners and threw some of the bodies down wells to hide their crimes. Yet so began the housing boom in Cyprus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Real Story of the Cyprus Debt Crisis (Part 1)

17 Dead, More than 200 Injured As Morsi Supporters Rally To Reject ‘Coup’

"It seems the turmoil in Egypt is far from over as hundreds of thousands (if not more than a million) protesters rallied on Friday to reject the military's removal and arrest of President Mohamed Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Egypt's health ministry reports that 17 people were killed and more 200 were injured in clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters on Friday. You can watch live feeds from the protests here, and Business Insider has a correspondent on the ground. Some of the most intense clashes came on the October 6th bridge in Cairo, where gun shots were heard and a car has been set ablaze." Continue reading →

Continue Reading17 Dead, More than 200 Injured As Morsi Supporters Rally To Reject ‘Coup’

Egyptian nightmare for Erdogan

"True, the danger of a military coup in Turkey at the moment is close to zero, if only because Erdogan has locked up an entire army college (some 330 officers) on charges of plotting against him. But the parallels between the two countries run far beyond the superficial. For the record, so too did Egyptian still-President Mohammed Morsi try to purge the army last year, although he only removed a few top generals. The Turkish and the Egyptian governments - both democratically elected - have cracked down on the press, rolled back some civil liberties and planned to change the constitutions in ways many citizens found unacceptable." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgyptian nightmare for Erdogan

Military Plans to Maintain Power in Egypt after Coup

"Behind the scenes, the military, led by General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, plans to continue running the show. Since it took power in a coup in 1952, the military has remained the most important political player in Egypt. Neither Mubarak's fall in 2011, nor the short rule by Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, have changed this. At 58, el-Sissi is the country's youngest general. He has never fought in a war, and only knows about conflicts with Israel from the stories of others. He belongs to a generation that was invited to receive military training in the West. In 1992 he was in Britain, and in 2006, the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary Plans to Maintain Power in Egypt after Coup

Wall Street Journal says Egypt needs a Pinochet

"Presumably, the WSJ thinks the Egyptians now have 17 years in which to think themselves lucky when any who dissent are tortured with electricity, raped, thrown from planes or – if they’re really lucky – just shot. That’s what happened in Chile after 1973, causing the deaths of between 1,000 and 3,000 people. Around 30,000 were tortured. Presumably, the WSJ hopes a general in the mold of Pinochet (or generals, as they didn’t break the mold when they made him) will preside over all this with the assistance of Britain and America. Perhaps he (or they) will return the favour by helping one of them win a small war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWall Street Journal says Egypt needs a Pinochet

US Obsession With the Importance of the Mideast and Solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

"Recent developments in Egypt–with a sizeable minority of the population justifiably concerned about their rights at the hands of the majority of fundamentalist Islamists—show that arriving at liberal democracy from democracy may be a difficult and destabilizing prospect. The lesson from this messy process is not that the United States should intervene and remain until liberal democracies take hold in developing nations, but that the process is so chaotic that the United States should stay out of these nations, especially in the Middle East. This recommendation will be hard for the government of a swaggering superpower to stomach." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Obsession With the Importance of the Mideast and Solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict